Section 8: The Spark of Life
by Hawki
Summary: By the 25th century, the United States Empire had begun colonization efforts throughout the Orion Arm, ever expanding the sphere of human influence, terraforming worlds for human habitation. It was a practice that raised many ethical questions. Questions that many never even tried to answer. And there were some within the USE that never wanted them raised...
1. Prologue: Beginnings

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Prologue: Beginnings**

Even from here, Atlas is beautiful.

The source of the planet's namesake carried Earth on his shoulders in mythology, yet Atlas itself is below me. The "Home Away from Home." The jewel of the United States Empire. A lush, verdant paradise, its beauty dwarfing even that of Earth itself (or so say the world's inhabitants). And what's even more remarkable was that it was like this all along. A world just waiting to be discovered. No terraforming needed, no diseases that can't be immunized against, no problem animals that can't be dealt with. It's just…here.

Looking through a plasteel wall of one of _Atlas Station_'s boarding lounges, I'm able to take it all in. So is the woman who's just walked up to the wall as well. I glance at her. She's also looking down.

"Nice view," I murmur.

She glances at me. She's old, I notice. Not that age really means much in this day and age, but the slightly wrinkled skin, the greying hair, the…weary look, in her eyes. Forty years my senior at least.

"Got a flight to New Madrid," I add, gesturing to gate seven. "Just taking in the view while I can."

She nods, but then goes back to staring. I press on – the only conversation I'll be getting over the next few hours are from stewardesses on the shuttle.

"I mean, it makes you wonder," I continue. "There's worlds like Atlas everywhere. But Atlas, Earth…we've never created anything as beautiful as them. Even after all that terraforming in the last century…I mean…"

"Maybe we should have been satisfied with what the universe gave us."

I glance at her. She meets my gaze. There's a look in her eyes, and it's not weariness.

"Nobody really mentions terraforming nowadays," the woman murmurs. "All the years spent trying to get planets suited for human habitation. All the stuff-ups, all the deaths, both human and alien…People are more interested in the destination rather than the journey."

I let her ramble. Must be an age thing, I suppose. Every former generation has something to complain about when they're surrounded by people of the current generation.

"But hey, sooner or later we'll have another sphere of expansion," the woman says, turning her gaze back to the planet below. "More worlds turned. For better or worse."

"Surely for the better though, right?" I ask.

"Why?"

"Well…more life? More room for human habitation? The galaxy's ours for the taking. We may as well grab it."

The woman looks down at the metal floor. She begins to chuckle.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing."

"Come on, tell me."

"Oh, you just remind me of someone I used to know," she says. She looks up at me. "Long story."

"Then tell me."

She doesn't have an answer for that.

"I'm serious," I add. "Hour from now, I'll be on my way to New Madrid. Few more hours, I'll be on the planet itself dealing with red tape that extends from here to Boreas. If you've got a story, I'm willing to hear it."

The woman smiles. She seems to welcome the prospect. Yet she looks…sad, somehow. She rubs her wrinkled hands together.

"New Madrid," she whispers. "One of many…"

"Many what?"

She ignores me. "I can tell a story," she says. "Been a long time since I've reflected on it. Never told anyone the full story before either. But you being in the position you are…heh…will you even care?"

I raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that if you want to hear a story, you best sit down," the woman says, making her way to one of the seats by the plasteel wall, patting the one next to it. "Because it's quite a long one. And since my flight to Bellerophon leaves in thirty minutes, you don't have that much time."

I hesitate a moment. I could regret this. I could spend the next twenty minutes listening to tales of cats, dogs, and grandchildren. But…I want to know. And besides, if the story sucks, I've still got half an hour to make up for it.

So I take a seat. I'm ready for lift-off.

"Well, let's see…this story begins on Earth…"

And the ignition switch has been activated.


	2. The Offer

**The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 1: The Offer**

**Earth is the cradle of humanity. But are you content to stay in the cradle forever?**

The voice sounded all down the street. One voice among millions, yet drowning the others out.

**Thanks to the efforts of people just like yourselves, we can finally step out of our cradle and take our place among the stars.**

It was a voice that spoke to billions. Echoed all over the planet.

**As we speak, dozens of worlds are being terraformed. All to serve the future generations of the Empire. All to serve **_**you**_**.**

And on other planets that had already been settled. Mars. Centauri II. More cradles.

**So come on! Enlist now for the Empire! Take your place among the stars! Live the adventure!**

Worlds not quite like Earth though. The capital of the Empire. Utopia among the stars. Safe. Sedate. Perfect.

**This message has been authorized by the Department of Public Affairs. To find out more, please contact the following address.**

And that was when the message stopped. The vocal part of it anyway. Because it was at this point that the advertising blimp showed some text that no-one really cared about. If they wanted to leave, to take their place among the stars, they'd do it on their own time.

**Feeling tired? Want more out of life? Then try adravil! The latest energy stimulant from-**

It was at this point that Jane Anne was able to ignore the now slightly less loud declarations from the blimp reaching the café interior and focussed on the coffee in front of her. She had tried adravil. It had given her nausea for a week.

_Give me coffee any day._

So Jane drank. It was cheap, synthetic, and that most of the establishment's staff were androids didn't inspire much confidence in the 'passion' some claimed one of Earth's most ancient beverages was meant to have. But it was warm. It gave her energy. And in winter, Washington D.C., these were traits that Jane desired the most.

A flatscreen was flickering on in the corner. It was silent, which made the choice of three pundits sitting on sofas talking about anything and everything a dull affair, bar when one of them threw his hands out and started pointing the finger at another. Squinting her eyes, Jane was able to make out the text running below the screen.

**Government denies allegations of genetic manipulation in armoured infantry units…Ganymede Giants win Super Bowl…terraforming efforts on New Madrid set back by atmospheric processor malfunction…**

_New Madrid._

The crown jewel of the United States Empire's domain. Or it would be, once it was transformed from an uninhabitable rock. But still, Jane could dream. She could dream, because the ad blimp didn't need to speak to her. She could dream, because she was qualified for terraforming. In theory. She wanted to be out there, among the stars. And taking another sip of her coffee, watching as the third pundit separated the other two, she tried to keep her hands from shaking. Job interviews were like that. Though the cold weather and a now empty coffee cup weren't helping.

_Great._

Jane set the cup down, barely noticing as an android took it away. She gazed out on the street, watching cars and busses roll by while the aerial traffic above cast shadows down on them. People walked. People talked. People were happy. Order had come to Earth. Once a ravaged world torn apart by war, disease and death, it was now a shining beacon in the galaxy. A place no-one would ever want to leave. Provided they didn't want to "live the adventure" as the ads put it.

Turning away, Jane glanced at her chrono. 12:33. The person she was meant to meet was eighteen minutes late. Possibly it was a test to see how much she wanted the job but-

"Is this seat taken?"

Jane looked up. A man looked down at her from the other side of her two-seat table. A blonde-haired, brown-eyed, lean faced, lean built man dressed in a black suit with a blue tie and a brown suitcase.

"Um, not really," Jane said, feeling intimidated by the attire before her that clashed against her "smart casual" winter wear. "I'm just, well, waiting for someone."

"Really?"

"Um, yeah," Jane said, meeting the man's gaze. "Job interview. Guy's late, but…well, I'd like to wait."

"How long?"

Jane squirmed. Why the guy needed this seat, she didn't know. But she wasn't sure what to do either. Let him take the seat? Tell him to find another table? Why did he need this particular seat anyway? It wasn't as if-

"Relax, Miss Anne. I think I've kept you waiting long enough anyway."

The man sat down on the seat opposite her. His left arm carried his briefcase to the ground below. His right arm extended across the table.

"Clarence Sellers, Worldbuilders Inc. I believe I'm the person you were waiting for."

* * *

Clarence looked at Jane. She looked back at him. And despite his earlier request for her to relax, the look in her eyes indicated that she was finding it difficult to do so.

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the seat that he'd previously asked if he could take.

"Oh! Of course!" the woman said. "I should have offered it to you but-"

Clarence let her prattle on. The test of whether she could interact succinctly would come soon enough, but for now, he was willing to postpone it as she collected herself.

"Would you like anything?"

"Long black," Clarence said to the android. "Brown sugar. Milk too."

The android nodded and plodded off. And with the same level of haste, Clarence turned his visage back to Jane's. She just sat there. Alert. Ready.

"So, Jane," Clarence said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Oh," she said. "Well, I graduated from-"

"No, not what you did. About who you are."

"Um. Well…"

Jane fidgeted. In truth, Clarence already knew some of her background, and of that background, her physical features matched it. Brown, tanned skin. Brown hair done in a ponytail with two smaller ones on either side of her brow. Blue eyes.

"Well, I was born in the last days of the…well, you know, when push came to shove and the world couldn't support us anymore. The Cataclysm is what my father called it."

Clarence frowned. "That's one word for it."

"In what was called Canada," Jane continued. "Inuit father, Caucasian mother. Both dead."

"I'm sorry."

Jane waved a hand idly, though Clarence could tell that it was still a sore topic. "Well, rest is self-explanatory. Soldiers took me in when quelling the chaos, sent to an orphanage in Vancouver, grow up to be an upstanding USE citizen. And…well, three decades on, and Earth's the crown jewel of the cosmos. Still some healing to be done, but I believe the planet can be beautiful again."

"And yet you want to leave."

"I want to make more planets like this one," Jane said. "Growing up…I saw what we did to nature. I saw what we could do to bring it back. And…well, call this what you want, but in a way, I think it's our destiny to spread this beauty throughout the galaxy."

The coffee arrived. Dark and black. Like the void of space.

"Jane…" Clarence mused. "I can call you Jane, right? I…you know, if you don't mind me saying so, that's an odd name for someone of your background."

Her eyes darkened. "When your parents die when you're less than one year old…you don't know what they called you. And when you're barely hanging on, when the whole _world_'_s _barely hanging on, the powers that be give you whatever name they damn well feel like."

"And do you resent that?"

"Does that matter?" Jane asked. "The world's run by the United States Empire. So is every world from Mars to New Madrid, provided the terraforming there ever gets off the ground. So yeah, I'm a good upstanding citizen. I'll do my job. And…" She leaned forward. "I _would _like to work for you, Mister Sellers. With you. Because this is an opportunity I'd very much like."

And there it was. The sales pitch. Well, Clarence supposed, she'd done a good job in leading up to it. He took a sip of his coffee.

"You know, this isn't half bad. Maybe I should come here more."

Jane sat back in her chair. Upright and uptight.

"And maybe I will," Clarence said. "But for now, we have more business to attend to."

The coffee came down. His hand went forward.

"Think I'll give you a meeting with the powers that be, Miss Anne. Now let's see if your dreams can come true."

Given the look on Jane's face and the way she shook his hand, it was as if they'd already been granted.

* * *

_A/N_

_Job interviews gave me some of the inspiration for this chapter. Or rather the lack of them... :(_


	3. Agreement

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 2: Agreement**

"Wow. This place is nice."

Clarence grunted. His role in the 'interview' was over. Now all he had to do was to get Jane to his superior.

"Established in 2403," Jane continued, looking at the plaque beside the entrance to the building. "Early bloomer in the terraforming business eh?"

"First come, first served," Clarence murmured, walking up to the doors and not stopping as they hissed open. "It's what's kept us in the business."

"Nice."

Clarence glanced at Jane as she walked in through the door as well before turning his gaze back to the lobby. Marble paved, paintings on walls, small automatons driving around the floor, scouring for any speck of dust that might have made its way in from outside, actual humans at reception instead of robots…Everything about it radiated prestige, importance, and power. A radiation he'd long since gotten used to. Prestige came from pushing back the frontier. Importance came from the need to push back that frontier. Power came from those who established themselves on the frontier and got their share of the galactic pie by being important to Earth and the Empire. But while he was used to it, he still remained still. Long enough for his possible future partner to take it all in.

"Wow," Jane said.

Clarence rolled his eyes. 'Wow.' Apparently that was what passed for eloquent language these days. Yet sweeping an arm and uttering "your new workplace, if all goes well," he began heading for the elevators. And an enraptured Jane followed him.

It didn't take long for him to press his thumb and display his eyes for the required scanners. It took only slightly longer for a lift to arrive. Silently, he got in. Jane followed, but soon broke that silence.

"So," she murmured. "We meeting the boss?"

"One of them."

The elevator 'dinged' and the doors closed.

"My boss, then?"

"If all goes well."

Clarence pressed the **59 **button. It lit up. The elevator started rising.

"His name is Cairo Monasterzysko," Clarence continued. "My supervisor. Possibly yours as well."

Jane kept her silence that time. Maybe she was out of things to say, the terraformer reflected. Or maybe it was because of the 24th century music filling up the elevator. Trash that would shut anyone up until they started talking in an effort to ignore it.

"Um…so, Clarence," Jane began again. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to work for W.I.?"

"Oh, you know. School, college, internship, job…you know how it works."

"Yeah."

It didn't sound like she did.

"Any…hobbies? Interests?"

"Just stuff. I do my job. Pays the bills. Keeps me happy. Do my part for the Empire."

"Oh. Right."

Jane fell silent again. The elevator hummed. The music shifted to A minor. And finally, in what felt like a longer trip than usual, the elevator dinged, the glow around the **59 **button disappeared, and the doors opened.

"And here we are," Clarence said. "If you'll follow me."

Still keeping silent, Jane followed.

Silence still followed them as they walked through the corridors of level 59. It was in the upper part of the building, but really looked no different from any of the 58 levels below it. Cubicles, computers, some desks that looked pristine, others that looked like a war zone. It was nothing new, but as he glanced back at Jane, Clarence saw that she was doing her best to take it all in.

_Good girl._

The terraformer doubted any of it was really that new to her. Not in concept at least. But it was clear that she wanted the job. It was clear that she'd never had a job like this before. It was clear, to Clarence at least, that she might well be the type of person the assignment required.

"And here we are," he said, coming to a door with the word **Monasterzysko **shining from a LED attached to the entrance. "The moment of truth." He pressed a button on the side, a red light emitting from it as he withdrew his thumb.

"Nervous?" he asked Jane.

"I'm okay," she said.

It was a lie, he could tell. Attire-wise, she was well suited. A skirt of respectable length, polished shoes, a blouse, no adornments bar the jade ear-rings she was wearing. But her hands, her inability to meet his eyes directly…her lack of nerves was as obvious as the sun.

"Look, you probably hear this all the time," Clarence said. "But I mean it. Be yourself, be respectful, and you'll pass without a hitch. I brought you up here, didn't I? Trust me, that counts for something as far as Mister Monasterzysko is concerned."

Jane let out a small smile. "Thank you."

The button by the door turned from red to green.

And as such, the door was opened.

* * *

Jane was surprised when Clarence didn't come in with her, turning back to look at the closing door. So when the voice on the other side of the room said "ah, you're Ms Anne, are you?", she was caught by surprise again. Though as she turned away from the door and to the desk on the other side of said room, the former surprise was somewhat diminished.

"Mr…Mon…as…ta…"

"Call me Cairo, Jane. No-one can pronounce my surname anyway."

Jane snorted. Slightly. She wanted to convey some humour, but not too much to offend her possible future employer.

"So, anyway," Cairo said, gesturing to the chair facing his desk. "Have a seat."

Jane walked over. As she did so, she looked at the man in front of her.

Cairo was probably of mixed ethnicity, judging by his surname, and that most people on Earth were a mix of ethnic backgrounds anyway. He looked slightly Arabic, with brown skin and brown eyes, but "slightly" was the key word in that assessment. He was slightly pudgy too, but again, it was nothing extreme. No-one was obese nowadays given the advancements made in health technology over the last few decades, but being overweight was still a possibility. But in the end, Cairo was a man. One among billions on Earth, and millions more on the worlds beyond. Jane just hoped she could prove to me more than 'just an applicant.'

"So," Cairo began. "Clarence brought you here."

Jane nodded.

"Well, that says a lot," the man continued. "I trust Clarence's judgement. So you don't have to sit like you've been summoned to the principal's office."

Jane adjusted her posture. Slightly. There seemed to be a theme with that, she reflected.

"Do you believe in terraforming, Jane?"

"Pardon?"

"Terraforming," Cairo repeated, leaning across the table. "Do you believe that it's a worthy endeavour?"

"I…well, of course!" she exclaimed. "I mean, well, I hate to borrow a phrase, but we can't stay in the cradle forever. Earth's one world in a galaxy 130,000 light years across, and 30,000 light years deep at its core, 10,000 in its other regions. And as far as we know, it's ours for the taking."

"But is it?" Cairo asked. "What of the possibility of other life arising? Do we have a right to transform worlds to suit our needs? Is the galaxy really ours?"

Jane bit her lip. She knew how she felt about that issue. But to phrase it correctly…

"The Empire has guidelines on that issue," she said. "I know them of course."

"But do you _believe _in them?" Cairo asked. "Should we put microbes before humanity?"

"I believe…" Jane bit her lip even tighter, "that we should do what's best for humanity."

It wasn't technically answering the question. Jane suspected that Cairo realized that, as she watched him slide back in his leather chair. Her gaze shifted to the window behind him, displaying a low sun in a winter sky, casting its light on sky traffic. Earth-siders. Living in paradise. Free from having to deal with such questions.

Jane shifted awkwardly in her seat, smoothing out her dress. Cairo just sat there.

_Come on, say something._

Who, though, she wondered. Herself? Cairo? Should she try and press her credentials? Graduated in 2420, Empire State College, GPA of 3.4, letters of reference from the HR department that had overseen her internship? Cairo had presumably seen her resume when she'd sent it in, but-

"Well, Miss Anne. I do believe we have a job for you."

Jane slumped down in her chair. She didn't care.

_I did it._

"Thank you," she said, getting up and going to shake Cairo's hand. I…this means a lot to me. Really. I…so where do I work? I-"

"Oh, you're not working here."

"Pardon?"

Cairo chuckled. "Relax, Jane. You've got a job. If you want it, and given how you reacted, I assume you _do _want it."

"Oh, I do sir, I mean, Cairo. I do. I really do. It's just…" She trailed off, wondering how to phrase her words. "I didn't expect to be, well, out in the field so soon."

"But you want it?"

"Oh yes. But, well, you know…I expected to start at the bottom rung of the ladder. Not the top."

"Ladders are out of date," Cairo said, putting a hand in his desk drawer and taking out a group of documents including a ticket "You're on the space lift."

The documents were handed to her. Jane looked at them, starting with the ticket.

_Honolulu Space Elevator. Starship _Palouse_. Destination OBL-11_.

"We're sending you out into the field," Cairo said, getting to his feet (Jane started to get to her feet as well, but thought better of it and sat down). "A little job for you."

"A little job?" Jane asked, looking at the briefing packet. "It looks like the work's almost done, according to this. Soon atmospheric processing will begin."

"Yes, it will. You'll be there in the final stages. For that, and…well, another little job we've got for you."

Jane stared at him.

"Nothing untoward of course," Cairo added hastily. "Something to suit someone of your skills and position. Clarence can show you the ropes."

"Clarence?"

"Oh yes. Mister Sellers is coming as well." Cairo laughed. "Honestly Jane, I do trust you. But you'll be representing the company out there. I'd sleep much better at night knowing that Clarence is out there in case anything goes wrong."

Jane remained seated, not sure what to make of all this. She wanted to work offworld. To see the stars, the planets, everything. She'd wanted it as long as she could remember. But even so…

_Suck it up Jane._

So she got to her feet. She folded the documents and put them in her dress pocket. She stood there. Ready to go.

"So, everything alright then?" Cairo asked. "The ship leaves in a week. I hope that'll be enough time to get your Earthside affairs in order?"

Jane nodded. More than enough time. She had no relatives or pets to worry about, and a bit of Extranet posting would alert her friends that she'd be out of touch for…well, quite awhile, to say the least.

"Good," Cairo said. He extended a hand. "A pleasure to meet you Ms Anne."

"Thank you," she said, taking it. "Oh, and call me Jane."

Cairo laughed. "That's the Worldbuilder spirit." He let go. "Well, we'll be in touch. Oh, and send Clarence in will you?"

Jane nodded. She began to leave. Though as she did so, she cast one last look out the window, seeing the evening light.

Soon there'd be stars in the sky.

And soon, she'd be among them.

* * *

"So, she's got the job?"

"Of course. What, that's a bad thing?"

"No sir, just-"

"Just nothing Clarence. You vouched for her, I've accepted her, and with the _Palouse _leaving in a week, we needed someone yesterday."

Clarence frowned. Cairo said that yesterday as well. And the day before. Only difference now was that they finally _had _someone. And that someone was Jane Anne.

"Your travel details," Cairo said, handing Clarence a set of documents that included a ship ticket. "You two are leaving in one week. I trust your affairs are in order."

Clarence nodded. He'd got what few affairs in order as soon as he knew about the mission.

Silence filled the office. Jane had left, telling him that Cairo wanted to see him, and thanking him for "everything" before walking/skipping back to the elevators. It was dusk, and most people were heading home. So while other people were still in the building, he and Cairo might have been the only ones in it for all intents and purposes.

Clarence looked at Cairo, focussing on his computer. He was ready to leave. And yet…

_Come on. You want to spend the elevator ride with Miss Over the Moon?_

"So," Clarence began. "What did you think of her?"

"You tell me," Cairo murmured. "You evaluated her, didn't you?"

"Her personality. It was _your _job to assess her…capabilities." He put the documents in his suit pocket. "You think she'll do it?"

"Again, you tell me."

Clarence sighed. Cairo could be an enigma. _Was_, an enigma, given how little he knew about the man. Then again, that could be said for many people. The chaos of the 24th century hadn't done the creation and preservation of records any favours, so as far as he knew, Cairo had simply appeared out of nowhere.

"I think she's a nice girl," Clarence said. "She's definitely got the book-smarts to be in the business. But...well, she's naïve. Idealistic too, I think. And in a way that isn't necessarily beneficial to us."

"Oh, there's no denying that," Cairo said, still focussing on the screen. "We tell her the mission up front, she'd reject it. But if push comes to shove, with you there, she'll do the job in a pinch."

"That's a risk sir."

"Yes, it is," Cairo said, finally making eye contact. "But that's why we need her. Because if someone ends up taking a fall, better it be an outsider who's our patsy. Not you, and not Kingston."

"If Kingston had done the job when he was there-"

"He couldn't have," Cairo snapped. "But he did the next best thing by reporting it to us. And _we_ report to the Empire. We do what has to be done so the bleeding hearts of humanity don't keep us on Earth. So we'll solve this problem. Miss Anne will pull the trigger. And you'll be there to make sure that happens Clarence."

There was no "or else." There didn't need to be.

"Go home, Clarence," Cairo said, turning back to the computer. "You've got a long journey ahead of you."

Clarence sighed, and walked out of the office. He wanted to say more. Ask more. Get some reassurance.

But that he had a long trip coming was a statement he couldn't disagree with.

* * *

_A/N_

_By way of more shameless plugging, much of this was taken from firsthand experiences in office environments, namely the whole trepidation that comes from an interview process. Not that I'll be applying for a terraforming job...well, ever, but hey, that's what sci-fi is for._


	4. Departure

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 3: Departure**

Jane had never been inside a space elevator before.

Technically speaking, she'd still hadn't entered one. The Honolulu Space Elevator, located off the coast of the island of the same name, was like no structure she'd ever been in, but the terminal itself that led into it was like that of every other airport that she _had _been in. The entrance to the space elevator itself, located beyond the sign declaring **Only Passengers Allowed Beyond This Point**, was something she'd yet to enter. And if Clarence answered his call of nature much longer, if he made them miss the lift that would take them to the space station at the other end of the ride, she might never enter it at all.

_Come on Clarence_.

So she waited. Waited with plain clothes, a backpack for hand luggage and every piece of documentation she'd need to get on the ship. Waited for her traveling partner to get off the loo so they could move on to the next stage of their journey.

_Come on!_

And she kept waiting.

Jane leant against a wall. She wondered whether it was worth getting out her data pad to start on the latest novel she'd downloaded for it, but decided against it. She wondered whether there was any contact she should call on her fone, before remembering that she'd sorted all that out near the start of the week, and had spent the rest of it waiting for the big day. She wondered whether it would be worth browsing the shops nearby, but reasoned that she didn't want to burden herself with clothes that she wouldn't even be able to wear for the next six months unless the _Palouse _decided to host a formal. So she waited. She watched. She tried to turn her ears off to protect her from the sound of a screaming child.

_Clarence, if you don't get here, I'll-_

She calmed herself down. Clarence was her boss, she reminded herself. The person who she needed to please as much as Cairo, along with every other terraformer on the _Palouse_. Taking a breath, Jane started walking away from the wall. And away from the brat screaming that he wanted to go to WhippieCream.

There was no end to the crowd, Jane noticed, as she walked through it. Not many people went to other worlds for vacations, what with the costs involved. But many were willing to take a chance for a new life on those other worlds, lured in by a combination of advertising and government subsidies. The Empire wanted its people out there, amongst the stars. People that ranged from terraformers like herself, to children screaming bloody murder for lack of ice-cream. People even like Clarence who, judging by her chrono, had to spend nearly ten minutes clearing their bowels and-

"Oof!"

People that backed into other people, sending those other people down to the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Well, at least those people were polite.

Jane looked up, then looked down to see that the person who had bumped into her had fallen as well. She looked young – late teens, the terraformer suspected. Freckles, long brown hair, a pale face. And given how quickly she started picking up the flyers that she'd dropped, apparently earnest about whatever she was doing as well.

Rubbing her backside, Jane got to her feet. Part of her wanted to help the girl, but most parts of her were still aching from the fall.

"I'm Jean, by the way," the girl said, still scooping up flyers. "Jean Wells."

"Jane," the terraformer murmured.

All the flyers were nearly up by now. But her aches having subsided, Jane knelt down and picked up the last few. Each of them showed a holographic image of a barren world transforming into a verdant one. Like Earth, but with continents arranged to make it clear that this was any world _but _Earth. Curious, Jane opened the leaflet.

"Terra-Save?" she asked, seeing the title above the smaller text and images.

"Oh, are you interested?"

_Shit._

Activism. Jane could sympathise with it. She'd even done some volunteer work in her college years. But right now, on the eve of embarking to another world, she really didn't have time for this. Even if Clarence was still nowhere to be found.

"Terra-Save is a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation of the galaxy's biosphere, including Earth's," the girl said, her words clearly a pre-prepared speech. "Our activities include re-vegetation projects,"

"That's great, but-"

"Animal welfare,"

"I really have to go-"

"And to put an end to terraforming."

"What?"

"Oh yes, terraforming," the girl said, her face beaming. Presumably she thought she'd hit a soft spot. "It's what the flyer focusses on."

Jane opened it up again, this time reading the text. Statement of principles, a selection of 'facts,' images of microbes and eukaryotes that seemed to be on a pre-Cambrian level of evolution…All of it dealing with the rise of life on other worlds, and the idea that humanity had no right to interfere. Even worlds where no life was detected.

"I mean, that's why I'm here," the girl continued. "Did you know there's a starship leaving today, from the top of this very space elevator? To go out and wreck another world for human exploitation?"

Jane frowned, torn between entering a debate and getting away from the activist. "I know about it."

"Oh, yeah!" the girl said, her face now as bright as a supernova and about as glaring to Jane as well. "Terraformers, corporate sell-outs, the whole lot of them-"

"Um, Jean, is it?"

"Yes?"

"Yeah…thing is, I'm one of the people who's getting on that ship."

The supernova in Jean's face died and was replaced by a white dwarf. And with all thought of Clarence having disappeared from her mind, not past the point of no return, Jane felt like a red giant.

"So…" Jean began. "You a crewmember?"

"Terraformer, actually."

The white dwarf had started to emit gamma rays. "So, you're with them, huh? One of those people adding to the problem we're trying to solve?"

"Jean, I don't know what planet you've been living on, but I'm going to assume it's been in a rock under this one," Jane snapped. "Otherwise you'd know that terraforming is a solution to a problem, not a cause."

"Oh really? Tell that to every organism you people have stamped out! Tell that to every world you've casually turned into another Earth!"

_Oh hell._

"Care to comment on that, _Jane?!_"

The terraformer sighed. She didn't want this. She wanted to be on the ship. Or with Clarence. Even still hearing that kid screaming for ice-cream wouldn't have been so bad because she knew he'd eventually grow up to be a (relatively) intelligent human being. But she was in this. All she could do was stand her ground.

"You know, I thought this whole 'terraforming is evil' thing was solved long ago," Jane said, trying to keep her cool. "The USE has strict regulations on-"

"Regularly ignored!"

"Fact! If there's no life or chance of life on a world, we can terraform it," Jane said. "Fact! If life is detected, even if it's prokaryotic, the world is declared off-limits!"

"No-one really cares about those rules and-"

"Fact! If the potential for life is deemed to exist, the world may or may not be terraformed. Now I'm sorry if you dislike the decisions made in this regard, but-"

"We shouldn't be terraforming at all!"

Jean wasn't backing down. Jane glanced around, seeing a few passer-bys glancing at her. She hoped that at least some of them were sane.

"Earth is our home," Jean said. "Our first home. Our only home. There's still healing that needs to be done. We shouldn't screw up other planets like we did ours."

"Actually, most people would say the planet's doing alright," Jane countered. "And I fail to see how transforming barren rocks into new Edens is 'screwing them up.'"

"Oh yes, the whole 'no life, no strife' argument," Jean sneered. "Tell me – do you look under every rock? Search every pond? Dive down to every oceanic vent?"

"Close enough…"

"The answer is, you don't. So how do you know if there's life or the potential for it or not? You don't know, you can't know, yet you people transform every world you can as if you do! What gives you, humanity, the right to do that?!"

"Don't talk to me about rights, and humanity, and all that," Jane whispered. "You…how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Well, I'm twenty-seven, and in those extra nine years, I saw things you didn't. I saw the world in chaos. I saw it at its worst. My parents are dead because of that chaos, and it sickens me to think that there's some people who think it was nothing." Jane took a step forward. "So yes, Jean, I'll continue working on worlds. I'll bring life to worlds so they can have that gift. I'll do what we should have done long ago so that Earth isn't the only lifeline people have for a happy future. And I'll do it within the regulations of the law. For the greater good."

"Yeah…" Jean whispered. "Keep telling yourself that."

Jane raised a hand that became a fist. But nothing happened. Because she felt another hand on her shoulder.

"Jane? Is everything okay?"

Jane turned to find the voice. She saw Clarence staring back at her.

"I-"

Jane turned around to face Jean. But she was gone. Disappeared into the crowd. Seeking to find more people to spread her message to.

"Jane?" Clarence asked again. "Did something happen?"

"No…" Jane murmured, tightening the straps on her backpack. "Nothing happened…"

* * *

Clarence knew Jane was lying.

It was part of his job description. To seek people out for the company, evaluate them, and to know when they were being honest, and when they were just trying to get a job with no real passion for it. But even one of the desk jockeys who'd passed them through to the departure terminals would have seen past her claim of "nothing happened," he reflected. "Nothing" didn't involve two women shouting at the top of their lungs. "Nothing" didn't result in someone like Jane Anne, prom queen of the month, falling silent the entire trip through the terminals to the space elevator. And that "nothing" had to be a big "something," he reflected, because he'd never known anyone to be so caught up in something that they didn't look through the space elevator's windows to see the Earth below.

"Alright Jane. Spit it out."

His partner looked up at him from her seat. "Pardon?"

"You're more silent than the vacuum outside, and you look as grim as the moon."

"Just…don't feel so good."

"Bullshit."

Gone was the formality of their café meeting. Gone were the fancy suits and rehearsed dialogue. Plain clothes, and plain speaking – they both had the former, and Clarence wanted the latter as well.

"Look," Clarence said. "We're going to be working together for six months. Space is going to be at a premium over that period of time, and there's inevitably going to be people you'll wish were dead by the time those six months are up. So get whatever's on your chest off it while you still can."

"Is that an order?"

"I can make it one if I can. We may be working together. I may be your partner, and you may be the brains of our duo. But I represent Worldbuilders Inc., _you'll _be representing Worldbuilders Inc., and if I don't think you're doing a good job of that, I can easily rectify the situation."

Jane stared at him. Even as holo-cams snapped and whirred throughout the elevator, all pointed to the planet below.

"So, either you solve your issues, or I do it for you. Your choice."

Jane lowered her gaze. Giving her time to make up her mind, Clarence looked around the elevator's interior. It was about as wide as an office floor and twice as tall. Every seat was taken, and everyone else who hadn't been so lucky were forced to stand. Forced to endure the wait.

"Alright. Fine."

Luckily, the wait for Jane to open up wasn't nearly as long.

"The girl I was arguing with," the terraformer began. "She worked for a group called Terra Save."

"Christ, those loonies again?"

Jane looked up at him. "You know of them?"

"Course I do. Everyone in the terraforming business knows about them and every other nutjob who goes on about microbes, and organisms, and that humans have no right to colonise other worlds." Clarence gripped his handrail tighter, and not just because the elevator jerked to the side for a bit. "Don't tell me she got to you."

"Well, kind of…"

_Shit. Not good. Not now. Not when the mission-_

"I mean, I defended my position," Jane added hastily, reminding Clarence of their interview a week ago, how she'd been so eager to please. "Used facts, used logic, used…stuff…"

"So what's the problem?"

"It's just…well…"

"Oh come on," Clarence sighed. "Every generation, there's people who insist on clinging to the ideals of the one before it. One-hundred years ago, genetic manipulation was evil. Two-hundred years ago, using cloning technology for animal foodstuffs was the subject of heated debate. Three-hundred years ago, the attempt at a centralized world government in the UN was heralded as a fascist coup that threatened the freedom of humanity itself. Four-hundred years ago, we-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Jane said. "But I mean, she has a point.

_Oh Jesus Christ on a fucking pogo stick…_

"We've made mistakes. In those fields, and in terraforming as well. I mean, take Kepler-twenty-two-b. It was only after the terraforming had begun that we discovered nitrogen-based eukaryotes in its seas. Only way we could save them by that point was taking surviving samples for preservation in space station reserves."

"Jane, you-"

"Gilese one-six-three-c. Same thing happens, only the life was silicon-based. And don't forget-"

"Jane, if you're going to worry about every little worm that was born in the shallow end of Mother Nature's gene pool, then you're not going to last long out here."

Clarence stood there. Jane sat there. Clarence wondered how it had come to this, why she'd never voiced these reservations before. Or maybe they'd only just popped into her head. He certainly hoped so, because if not…

"Look, I believe in terraforming, really," Jane said. "Spreading life throughout the galaxy, I think it's wonderful. But we've made mistakes. And that girl…well, her viewpoint may be extreme, but I admit, I can see where she was coming from."

"Then you better stop seeing it."

Jane fell silent.

"Look," Clarence said. "Microbes, fishies in the sea, the prospect of even meeting intelligent aliens someday, it all _sounds _nice. It's nice to imagine that little grey men are out there to say they come in peace, or that in a few billion years, the green ooze we find in puddles will someday give birth to little _green _men. But the fact is, we're here already. The Empire's here. We're humans, we're intelligent, and we're under no obligation to hinder our own development just because some jellyfish don't like it."

"But, the regulations-"

"Yes, yes, I know all about regulations," Clarence said, waving one hand idly while keeping his other on the handrail. "But regulations change. Someday, they may not even exist. But the human race will always exist thanks to the Empire, and terraforming is the means to ensure we never _stop_ existing."

He stood there. Waiting for a response. No-one else in the elevator was looking at him, their eyes all on the Earth or now that they could see it, the moon. But he didn't care. Jane was there. Jane his sidekick. His employee. The brains trust on whom this enterprise depended.

"That was a nice speech," the girl murmured. "Bit rehearsed, but-"

"What can I say? I had practice."

"Huh? When?"

Clarence smiled. The terraforming subject had been suppressed. He'd gotten Jane interested in him. And she'd left the doors wide open for the subject of that interest to flow through them.

"Well, you know how it goes," Clarence said. "I mean, okay, maybe not in your background, but me? Born in Washington, raised in Washington, went to school in Washington. Upper school in the cadets, did the best I could, always wanted to serve the Empire…"

"And you chose terraforming as your career path?"

"Yeah, of course," he said. "Like I said, terraforming's the future. The Empire may show some armoured infantry guy waving the stars and stripes, but at the end of the day, it's people like us that allow those people to operate where they do."

"Yeah…" Jane smirked. "Not sure why they need power-armoured soldiers when there's no-one even to fight. I mean-"

"Look," said Clarence, annoyed. "The Empire's the future. The UN failed, humanity failed, but now we've succeeded where the old powers failed, and I'll be damned if humanity fails again. So if you _don't _want to ensure the future of humanity by helping establish our galactic empire, say now. Because once we get on the _Palouse_, there's no coming back."

Jane rubbed her hands together. Clarence tightened his grip on the rail. The elevator continued to hum. To rise. To head for the stars.

"Fine," Jane said eventually, meeting his gaze. "You're right. I mean…yeah, we make mistakes. But terraforming? Yeah…I believe in it."

"What was that?"

"I said I believe in it," repeated the terraformer, louder than before.

"Good," said Clarence, smiling. "Now that that's out of the way, would it be okay if I took your seat for a bit? My feet are killing me."

* * *

Part of Jane hoped the line would move along. Her feet were killing her.

Clarence's "bit" of sitting had lasted the entire duration of the elevator trip. A fair exchange she supposed, but her feet were protesting at that rate of exchange. Her feet wanted to get onto the _Palouse _as soon as possible, enter her quarters, and put themselves on the end of a bed. So, heeding the souls of her soles, part of Jane wanted to move along.

The other half wanted to stay put.

The top of the space elevator consisted of a series of modules all connected to the central hub from which the elevator went down on. Some were designed for cargo transfer, others for personnel. The one Jane, Clarence, and everyone else headed for the _Palouse _was an example of the latter. Yet with two sections of wall featuring windows gazing off into space, it wasn't too good a view from where the line was. There was the faint glow of Earth's atmosphere, but in the centre of the room, in a line heading for the boarding tube that attached the station to the _Palouse_, Jane couldn't see the Earth itself. So all her reflections had to take place in her own mind.

_Terraformers, corporate sell-out, the whole lot of them._

_The Empire's the future. The UN failed, humanity failed, but now we've succeeded where the old powers failed, and I'll be damned if humanity fails again._

_Tell that to every organism you people have stamped out! Tell that to every world you've casually turned into another Earth!_

_If you don't want to ensure the future of humanity by helping establish our galactic empire, say now. Because once we get on the _Palouse_, there's no coming back._

The voices of Jean and Clarence echoed in her head. Even as Clarence stood silently behind her, even as Jean remained over 120km below her, she could hear their voices.

And in the midst of her thoughts, she could hear traces of her own. Sometimes it told her that she was doing the right thing. That she was helping seed life throughout the galaxy, that she was securing the future of life on Earth, ensuring that it wasn't confined to one world. But sometimes it told her that she was the destroyer of worlds. A tool of human expansion, of human arrogance. For over 250,000 years, humanity had been driving other species to extinction. And every time a world fell victim to Earth's dominant species, the cycle of death continued.

"Come on Jane, move it."

Clarence had spoken. She moved forward, along with the rest of the line. Towards the crew at the desk in front of the boarding tube. Its entrance like a gaping maw. Ready to swallow her whole.

_Come on, keep it together. You chose this. You wanted to be here. You _want _to be here. You-_

"Jane Anne?"

The terraformer blinked. It wasn't Clarence who spoke.

"Miss Anne?"

It was the man beside her. A man wearing a grey uniform with chevrons that symbolized the rank of captain. Bearded, tall, and somewhat gangly, he partly reminded Jane of something out of the Wild West of over half a millennium ago. But he also radiated authority. And not just because of the uniform he wore.

"Um, yes," the terraformer murmured. "Jane Anne. And you are?"

"Michael Columbia. Captain of the _Palouse_."

_Shit. _"I, um, pleasure to meet you. I-"

"Relax, Miss Anne," the captain said, placing his hand on hers and bringing it down. "You only have to be formal on the ship."

"That's…good to know, sir."

"Sir's formal. Like I said, until you pass that desk, you can call me Michael. Or Mike, if you want."

Jane remained silent. "Mike" seemed genuine in his desire to stimulate casual conversation, but her instincts wanted her to remain formal. Those instincts had gotten her this far after all, and it was well within the captain's rights to send her back to Earth if he wanted to.

"And this must be your aide," Columbia said, turning to Clarence. "Mr Sellers, I believe?"

"The same," Clarence said. "I look forward to doing my part."

"Don't we all," the captain said, patting him on the shoulder.

_Aide? _Jane wondered. She glanced at Clarence. _I thought we were working together._

"So, Mr Monasterzysko has been in touch with me," the captain said, returning his attention to Jane. "Rising star in Worldbuilders Inc., eh? I'm expecting great things from you."

"I…thank you sir, but I don't think I'm really as high up as you think."

"No 'sir', please. And don't be so modest. I know you'll do great things. Especially after Mr Kingston."

"Mr who?"

"Kingston," said Clarence quickly. "Our last employee on OBL-eleven. Had to be recalled due to contract."

"Indeed," Columbia said. "USE regulations. We can't keep people out in such environments for too long for reasons I'm sure you're familiar with."

"I…yes, I know the generalities," Jane murmured, desperately thinking back to her college lectures. "Psychological breakdowns, physical adaptation, the-"

"Yes, well, you needn't worry. We'll be working together for six months. I know you'll do great."

"Th…thank you Sir."

Columbia smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't call me sir. Not yet."

He didn't wait for a response. Instead he moved down the line, to whoever else he felt he had to greet.

Jane sighed, letting out the air that she'd been holding in for the last few minutes. She looked back at Clarence.

"Rising star?" she asked.

"Your resume checked out," Clarence murmured, gazing towards the starboard windows. "We were impressed."

"I…come on Clarence, I've never worked in the field before! Columbia was treating me like I'd won the Nobel Prize or something!"

"Well, maybe you will one day," he said idly. He looked back at her. "Suck it in Jane. Don't tell me Earth's gravity is weighing you down."

"I…but…"

"But nothing," he snapped. "Tube's that way, elevator's that way. Your choice." He paused. "You want this, right?"

"I…I do."

"Good."

_But not for the same reasons you do._

Jane knew she could be sure of one thing. Clarence was in this for the Empire, and whatever glory was associated with it. They had the same end, and the same means. But not the same motivations. But that being said, as the line moved forward, as the check-in desk loomed every closer, she couldn't even be sure of her _own _motivations anymore.

Her feet protested. Her mind raced. Glancing at the port windows, Jane looked at the light of the stars.

And then returned her gaze to what lay ahead.

There was no turning back. Not now.

She just hoped she wouldn't find reason to.


	5. Out of This World

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 4: Out of This World**

_These corridors are too narrow._

Clarence had lost count of how many times he'd had to say "excuse me," or "pardon me," or let out a non-committal grunt at every other passenger he had to slide by. He'd also lost count of how many times they'd said the same words to him. The _Palouse _had been designed with function rather than form in mind, and it showed in the narrowness of its corridors along with the low gravity. It was a ship that took its passengers from one planet to the other. It was the destination rather than the journey that mattered. And as he approached his cabin, Clarence's destination mattered even when it came to walking from one end of the ship to the other.

"Jane, open up!"

There was no sound apart from that of his knocking.

"Jane!"

There was still no answer.

_God dammit…_

Pressing against the wall as another passenger walked past, Clarence fiddled around for his keycard. He was sick of this. This ship, space-travel, and not least of all his partner. So when he got the door open, when he saw Jane just lying on her bunk, "sick" became "ailment."

"Jane, what the hell are you doing?!"

She just lay there. She turned her head to face her co-passenger, but otherwise, just remained lying on the lower bunk.

"Hey Clarence," she said. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Fancy…what?!"

Jane continued lying there, and Clarence just stood there. His hands formed into fists. He wanted to put them into his suit blazer, but he had no such attire on this trip. Function before form applied to attire as well.

"Jane, didn't you get the memo?" Clarence asked. "The briefing?"

"Huh?"

"The briefing, Jane Anne, the briefing!" Sighing, Clarence walked over to the mirror that faced opposite the bunks, the only other feature in the room besides the single closet. He pressed a button on the side and text scrolled across it. "Briefing on OBL-eleven. Hanger deck, fourteen-thirty hours." He turned to face the terraformer. "A briefing you're meant to be at."

Jane sighed, but otherwise remained lying where she was.

"Hello?!" Clarence said, snapping his fingers above the woman's eyes. "Briefing! Terraformers! Compulsory attendance! Am I getting through to you?!"

"I'm not going."

"…what?"

"I said I'm not going," Jane murmured, turning on her side. "They don't need me."

"Jane, you work for Worldbuilders Inc. You represent the company! You'll get your arse down there or-"

"Or what?"

Clarence fell silent. Out of all Jane's responses, he hadn't expected that one. Not a "or what?" or "are you threatening me?" He'd expected that by this stage of the conversation, Jane would be scurrying down to the hanger deck with her tail between her legs. Not sitting up on the bed and meeting his scathing gaze.

"Go on," she said. "Threaten me. Threaten your star employee."

"Pardon?"

"I'm not blind, Clarence. Or deaf. I saw the way the captain looked at me. I heard what he said." She glared at him. "Why did you talk up my skills?"

"Because…you _are _skilled?"

"Clarence, I came here to work. To do my job. Not do a job that frankly, seems to be for someone else. Not someone who's on her shakedown cruise."

"So the boss spoke up for you," Clarence said. "What of it?"

"Clarence, there's a difference between putting in a word, and putting in so many words that they become all someone hears."

"You want to hear things?" Clarence knelt down, so close to the terraformer that their faces were only 30cm apart. "Then hear this – get down there, or the word I send _back _to Cairo will ensure that you never get to do work like this again. And before you ask, yes, _that's a threat_."

Jane tried to retain her composure, but Clarence could see that he'd struck a nerve. Whatever she thought of him or Worldbuilders Inc., she wanted this job. Or at least, she wanted to keep it, even if she didn't like it. So it came as no surprise to him when she rolled over across the bed so she sat on one of its sides. The side where her shoes were, those shoes going on her feet.

"I hate this," Jane murmured.

"We're only one day into the trip, and we'll be at the planet in a week," Clarence said. He started taking off his own shoes. "You'll get used to it."

Jane sighed. "I didn't think I'd have to."

Clarence reached the top bunk. He sent his shoes flying down as Jane put hers on.

"I mean, I wanted this. I think I _still _want it," Jane murmured. "But…this ship. It's…it's so bare. Not shiny, not sleek, we're certainly not going where no man's gone before."

"Is that a reference I should know?" Clarence asked. He lay out on the bunk.

"It's just…terraforming is about bringing life to the galaxy, right?" Jane asked. She stood up straight, putting her feet on the edge of the lower bunk so she could look over the top. "I mean…I dunno. I just thought the ship would reflect that somehow. I thought…I thought I'd be more excited."

"And you know what I thought?" Clarence asked. "That you'd be less of a whiny little girl who gets homesick on her first trip out into space."

Jane remained silent, but he could see the hurt flicker in her eyes.

"See you later," said Jane softly. She turned and headed for the door, opening it softly, and letting it close softly as well.

"Have fun," Clarence called out.

There was no answer. Not that he was expecting one.

Sighing, Clarence put his hands behind his head and rested them on the pillow. He was sick of this ship, of its tight corridors and how anything could go flying across the room with the slightest nudge. But he was sick of Jane even more. He'd expected a newbie. A patsy. A rookie. He hadn't expected the person who filled that job description to be so annoying. Maybe the activist back on Earth had done more damage than he thought, but he was beginning to suspect otherwise, that Jane was the type of person who'd have preferred revegetation on Earth compared to the industry of terraforming. The type of person who expected to see rainbows and sunshine on extra-solar worlds, not rain and lighting.

_Well, screw it. We're out here now._

Clarence leant forward over his bunk, waved his hand in front of the mirror, and let the display slide to the entertainment hub.

One good thing he could say about the _Palouse _was that there was at least no shortage of movies he could choose from.

* * *

"So, now that everyone's here…"

_Shit shit shit._

"I suppose we can begin the briefing."

_No! Not yet!_

The door to this section of the hanger deck was open, but Jane nonetheless felt like she'd just barged through it. Ahead of her were numerous rows of seats, all facing towards the port side of the ship. And the man whose back was to that side, Captain Michael Columbia.

_Shit!_

The expletive kept running through Jane's mind as she headed for the back row of the chairs, squeezing between the chairs in the next row, and the people seated on them in her own. People she noticed were not at all pleased about her late arrival, and all looked older and more experienced than her. She felt like she was a schoolchild in upper school. A schoolchild who was still learning basic maths and English. Her only consolation was that Columbia had turned round and was fiddling with a holo-projector.

_Could have still seen me beforehand._

Jane sat down. Part of her wanted to be found out. To be sent back to her cabin. She hadn't wanted to come here as someone she wasn't, and while she'd accepted that it was something she had to do, it still didn't feel right. Clarence's persona remained in her mind, as much as Cairo's apparent excessive praise of her abilities. Maybe it would be better of Columbia found out now before she went down to the planet and showed everyone how far out of depth she really was.

"Well, while this is warming up, perhaps we can get to introductions."

Jane looked up. The holo-projector was displaying a hologram, one that said "loading, please wait." And Columbia was displaying a look similar to the one Cairo had to her back on Earth. The one that said "come talk to me, I won't bite."

_Do sharks say the same thing to fishies before the teeth come out?_

"We'll be together for six and a half months," the captain began. "Six on and above our destination, and a total of two weeks travel time. Over the course of this period of time, I'd like to think of you as family. I'd like to think that you will treat other and the rest of my crew as family as well. Because out here, alone, that's what we are. Family. One house. And a house divided cannot stand."

_Tell that to Clarence and me, _Jane reflected.

"So, as the head of this family, I'd like to begin by saying, welcome," the captain said, pressing his hands together. "We all have our own stories, and I'll just share some of mine first."

Jane looked around. Every other terraformer was either looking at Columbia with a polite, albeit bored expression, or playing with a data pad. It reminded her of a trip on an atmospheric transport, namely the phase where the stewards and videos reminded the crew to keep their seatbelts on at all times and the like.

"Grew up on Mars myself," the captain continued. "Low gravity, no shortage of starships. It didn't take Phobos and Deimos to fall on my head to tell me where my career lay."

But Jane still listened. Columbia didn't strike her as a vain man – she had no doubt that he was just as willing to listen to his crew's stories as give her own. But right now, she didn't want to miss out on any information that might be brought up later.

"Merchant fleet was good, but now, well, I've got the _Palouse_." The captain gestured around the hanger deck. A deck that extended the entire width of the ship, and unlike every other part of said ship, was actually spacious, even with the numerous shuttles being present. "My house. My home. And all for the sake of providing a new home for humanity."

The holographic words disappeared, and an image of a planet appeared. Jane wondered if it had been loading at all, or was really voice activated.

"Our new home," the captain began, walking up to the image of the planet, "is not yet ready for occupation. But we _will _be renting it over the new six months." He glanced back at the assembled terraformers. "All of you have no doubt been briefed on OBL-eleven, and all our available files have been sent to your data pads. But I'd still like to go over the basics."

The terraformer beside Jane yawned. She kept her attention focussed. She'd got the basics on the planet, but that was just it – the basics. She was here to do "a little job" for Worldbuilders Inc. Right now, the only thing that felt little was her wealth of experience.

"OBL-eleven," Columbia said, adjusting the hologram so it zoomed out, showing the planet's star system. "Third of eleven planets, and the eleventh discovered, hence the name. And lucky for us as well, because it's the only planet that's in the system's habitable zone."

A wave of blue was added to the hologram, representing the zone Columbia had referred to. The planet was within it, but quite close to the edge facing its sun.

"But close for comfort, as you can see," the captain said. He adjusted the hologram again and a red blob appeared in the habitable zone representation. "That's approximately where Earth would be. So yes, OBL-eleven is in the habitable zone, but it needs work. We can't move it, so we have to change the furniture around."

The image zoomed in, showing the planet. A list of statistics appeared next to it, showing features such as atmospheric composition, gravity, and rotation. Jane noticed that most of the aspects were quite similar to Earth. Not really anything that humans would have much trouble adapting to. The atmosphere however…

"CO-two," Columbia said. "A lot of it. OBL-eleven has plate tectonics so that helps in carbon sequestration, so we're not talking about a Venus-type planet. But it's got more than its fair share, and what with being closer to its sun than Earth…well, it's hot. _Very _hot. The type of hot that means that if there's any life that exists on the surface, it would have to consist of extremophiles."

Jane shifted uneasily. Jean's face and words were trying to force their way out of her memory and into her present mind.

"But nothing's been detected. And after a month, if OBL-eleven has life, or the potential for life, I'm afraid it'll be too late."

Jane's head rose.

"Everything's set up," Columbia said. A number of black towers appeared on the planet, spread out all across it. "These are our terraforming sites. All dedicated to carbon sequestration or conversion. They're up and running, and we could turn them on in an instant." He looked across the room. "And after a month, they will be. Final checks on the processors, final checks for life, or the potential. After this, there's no going back. After this, OBL-eleven will be on the path to be a new Earth." He smiled. "Or Mars. I like that planet."

Awkward laughter rippled through the crowd. The type of laughter that signalled that while the terraformers appreciated the worth of the speech, it was really nothing they hadn't heard before. Jane found some relief in that it didn't provide too much information for her that she wasn't familiar with on some level. But still…

_The answer is, you don't. So how do you know if there's life or the potential for it or not? You don't know, you can't know, yet you people transform every world you can as if you do! What gives you, humanity, the right to do that?!_

Jean's voice sounded in her mind. Part of Jane wanted to listen.

The other part kept focussed on the hologram. OBL-11 was perfect, she realized. There were far harder worlds to terraform out there. This…this could be done in a few decades, she realized. Even within her own lifetime. She'd be among those who would pull the switch in bringing a new Eden into the cosmos.

She watched as Columbia walked off the stage, and one of the scientists walked up. His own briefing. His own thoughts. Jane hoped nothing would be expected of her in the same vein.

Then again, reflecting on Clarence, Cairo, and everything else, she was beginning to wonder what was actually expected of her at all.


	6. Arrival

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 5: Arrival**

_We're here._

That was the thought that ran through Jane's mind. The thought that had run through it ever since the _Palouse _exited FTL travel. Since the announcement of that exit had been made. Had run through it for the last ten minutes as she lay on her bunk.

_We're here, _came the thought yet again. _I'm here. I made it. I'm about to actually set foot on another planet._

_And will you fall? _another part of her mind asked. _And how big will your steps really be._

_Big enough to give mankind a new home._

_Careful there. You don't want to step so far that you fall over._

Jane turned over. Sooner or later she'd have to report to the hanger deck and step out onto OBL-11. But for now, she wanted solitude.

The last week hadn't been that bad actually, she reflected. She was a junior, but the other terraformers hadn't looked down on her for it. They'd shared stories, they'd shared their thoughts, and some of them had even shared the secret of how to win at cards. For the last week, Jane had felt that while she wasn't really part of the gang so to speak, she was still allowed to operate within it. And maybe the next six months would be her initiation. The start of the bringing of life to a new world.

_And yet…_

The terraformer turned over to face the other direction. In some part of her, the doubts remained. Jean's words kept coming back to haunt her. Clarence's actions kept reminding her that something wasn't right, that Worldbuilders Inc. had sent her out here under dubious circumstances.

"Jane?"

And Clarence still wouldn't let up. He knocked on the door. Jane kept lying on the bed, waiting for him to open it.

"Jane, you ready?"

The terraformer sat up, meeting her 'assistant's gaze. The same thing had happened a week ago, she recalled. Only now, the circumstances were different. He looked calm. There wasn't a briefing to attend to, but a disembarkation. And for better or worse, she had no intention of missing it.

"Jane?"

"Coming," she murmured. She got to her feet. "Let's go."

Clarence nodded. As Jane walked up to him, she noticed that 'calm' was perhaps too generous a word to describe him. He sounded calm. He acted calm. But there was something off about him, she noticed. As if he was on edge.

_Why? It's not as if _he's _going down to the planet or anything._

Jane shrugged it off. She still knew so little about Clarence bar the bare bones of background he'd given her back on Earth. Not knowing how his mind ticked was to be expected by this point.

The two exited the corridor. Clarence handed her his data pad, having taken it out of his backpack.

"Work orders," he said. "Probably went to your data pad too, but I'm guessing you haven't read it yet."

"I was going to," Jane murmured.

"Right. Look, just read it will you?"

Jane did so. Text and images flooded the screen.

"You're disembarking in Shuttle _Whisky-Six_, time of departure at ten-fifteen hours," Clarence said, summarizing the text. You'll be working under Victoria do Sul, performing one of the final life sign checks. You know her?"

"Name's familiar," Jane said, scrolling through text and nearly bumping into a deckhand as she walked. "Might have seen her during a briefing or R n' R."

"Well, you'll be seeing a bit of her again, but as I understand, you'll be working alone. Got you on Terra Solitudo, Victor Sector, grid-"

"Yeah, that's great, but…alone?" Jane asked. She glanced at Clarence. "Isn't that-"

"Actually, it works out for the best."

Jane frowned, but it was clear that Clarence had nothing else to say yet. She instead returned her attention to the data pad. Terrain was good, weather was good (relatively speaking), the day looked…good. Pretty much normal.

_And is that good? Or do I still want to be home?_

There was no time to reflect on that, Jane supposed. They were at the hanger deck.

_Son of a…_

And it was very different from how it had been a week ago. All the shuttles were in the middle of being launched, or in preparations for launch. Deckhands ran to and fro. Columbia's voice boomed out over the loudspeaker. Her fellow terraformers were already there, some in environmental suits, others in the midst of being fitted into them.

"Huh," Jane said. "Nice."

Clarence glanced at her. "Something wrong?"

"No, just…been ages since I've been in one of those things," Jane said, gesturing to the environmental suits. "And every time I got into one, my instructors reminded us that they could never fully prepare us for the real thing."

"No. I guess not. But when you put yours on, put this among its pack stationary."

"Huh?"

Jane watched as Clarence took something else out of his backpack. It was a small rectangular case, smaller than a first-aid kit, and about as thin as a laptop.

"Clarence, what is this?"

"Your stationary," he murmured.

Jane took it. She looked for a clasp, or something else to open it with. There was no sign of one.

"It opens on my command only," Clarence whispered. He pulled Jane to the back wall, away from prying eyes. "Thanks to Cairo's good words, we've got you working in a nice, comfortable sector. One well suited for your lack of experience."

"I thought I had lots of experience according to you."

"Enough to make Columbia listen to us. But anyway, you'll follow your assigned route. Along it, you'll come across a rock marked with a 'X'. Caused by a laser cutter, so it won't have disappeared. When that happens, contact me. Frequency six-five point two."

"And what next?" Jane asked, her voice low.

"The job."

"The…what job?" Jane hissed. "Clarence, what is this? What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing that will cause harm. Just…a job."

"That's it? A job?' the terraformer asked incredulously. "An X? Clarence, how do you know this? What's going on?"

"Your trial by fire, Jane. You want a future in Worldbuilders Inc.? You want Cairo to keep you on, even as more qualified people vie for positions? Then get down there and contact me when you find it."

"And if I don't?"

"You will," Clarence said.

Jane swallowed. He didn't have to say "or else."

"Look," Clarence began. "You knew there was a job from the outset. You listened to Cairo and you accepted. If you've got cold feet, you had a whole week to take them out of the snow."

Jane sighed. He was right.

"But hey, it's your first time on an alien world," Clarence said, patting her on a shoulder. "So go get 'em tiger."

"Right. Go get 'em."

Jane turned around and headed for the techs to get her suit. No-one asked about the case she was carrying. No-one seemed interested in asking questions.

Right now, Clarence's words ringing in her ears, Jane wondered if she should have asked more questions herself.

* * *

Clarence watched the shuttle rise. He watched how its boosters rotated so that a wave of air spread out from under the craft's base. He watched how those boosters carried the shuttle to the edge of the hanger. He watched how a blast of air came horizontally as the boosters rotated again and the ship launched through the force field that separated the deck from the void of space. A shield that kept the air in, but provided no resistance for the shuttle that sailed through it.

_**Whisky-Six **_**is away**, boomed an automated voice.

Clarence turned around and headed back to the entrance to the hanger deck. There was no reason for him to hang around her anymore. When Jane contacted him, he wanted to be by his lonesome. Preferably in the cabin.

_And if she doesn't contact me? _Clarence wondered. _What then?_

Then he supposed he was faced with two possibilities – that she'd missed the mark, or had decided to ignore his orders. Neither possibility prevented a salvage of the situation, but-

"Excuse me."

Clarence stepped aside as a terraformer walked past him. He scowled – if Jane didn't do as she was supposed to do, then getting her back in the same area would be difficult.

"Thanks."

He ignored the terraformer. He instead just started walking again.

Maybe it would have been better to tell Jane the plan from the outset. Maybe they should have used a regular. Maybe…maybe…

_Enough maybes._

In the end, there was only one certainty.

That he'd find out the answer to his questions soon enough.


	7. Small Steps

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 6: Small Steps**

Victoria do Sul reminded Jane of something out of a military recruitment ad. An especially bombastic military recruitment ad. The type of ad that involved ballsy men, ballsy women, lots of explosions, and uplifting music. Hell, do Sul looked like the type of person who'd _directed _those ads.

"So remember, you're all operating alone in your designated areas. We've got six months on this rock and I don't want to waste a single minute of it."

She even talked like someone out of the USIF. Even the way she stood, hands behind her back, her single eye casting its gaze over the shuttle's occupants, was like something out of a holo-movie.

"But even now, OBL-eleven has some surprises. So remember to send updates. One every fifteen minutes. I'll be remaining on station in case one of you sorry sods needs help."

Jane wondered if do Sul were a man, she'd have said "ladies."

"Are we clear?!"

Affirmation rippled through the shuttle.

"**I said, are we clear?!"**

"Yes ma'am!"

Jane remained silent. And when do Sul's single eye lingered on her, she suddenly found the floor much more interesting.

"Approaching landing zone," came the pilot's voice. "ETA, five minutes. Air decompression will begin in two."

All the terraformers reached for their helmets. All but Jane put them on.

The helmet's glass was clear. She knew that as soon as she put it on, text would scroll across it informing her of everything from atmospheric composition to temperature. In the suit's in-built backpack was everything she needed to conduct tests for life, including whatever Clarence had given her.

_Clarence…_

"Something wrong?"

Jane looked up. Do Sul looked down at her, in all her one-eyed, scarred face, intimidating glory.

"I'm…fine," Jane murmured, fingering her helmet and refusing to meet the terraformer's gaze. "Just…well…."

Do Sul yanked her to her feet. "Woman up sweetheart. In ninety seconds you'll be sucking vacuum. I'd rather not have a corpse on my hands yet."

_And would it bother you if you got one later?_

Jane put her helmet on. It sealed with a hiss. Her HUD was yet to be activated, so she could still see do Sul's features.

"First time?" her commander asked.

Jane murmured an affirmation.

"Well tough shit."

Jane started to turn around. She didn't want this. Not from do Sul. Not from anyone. She wanted to bring life to the stars, not be sandwiched between Clarence on the ship and do Sul on the other. Who grabbed her on the shoulder and forced Jane to face her superior again.

"I know your background Miss Anne," do Sul said. "I know you're a newbie. I know you probably thought flying out to the stars was the best thing that ever happened to you."

"You could say that," Jane murmured.

"Well, it won't be," do Sul snapped. "The best thing that'll ever happen to you is when you settle down with a lifetime of cruddy work behind you, able to relax and watch as other people go through the same shit."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit cynical isn't it?"

"Decompression in thirty seconds."

Do Sul chuckled, though it quickly turned into a spasm of coughing.

"Decompression in twenty."

"Cynicism keeps you alive, newbie," do Sul said, after recovering from the bout. "Idealism didn't save me from these burns and a lost eye on Bellerephon. And it sure didn't stop hydrogen sulphide from entering my lungs on the moons of Tau Bootis either."

"I'm sorry," Jane said.

"Don't be. Save your sorrow for when it happens to you."

"Decompression in ten."

Jane turned round to face the exit hatch and grabbed one of the overhead hooks. Beside her, do Sul did the same.

"Was it worth it?" the elder terraformer asked.

"Can't this wait?" Jane hissed.

"Just answer the question newbie."

Jane sighed. "I don't know."

Do Sul remained silent. Jane glanced at her, and saw surprise flicker through her remaining eye. She suspected that she hadn't received the response she was expecting.

"Beginning decompression."

"I mean, I wanted this," Jane said as the air left the shuttle's passenger section. "Really. I wanted to go out into the universe. Spread life." She snorted. "Play God. Or gods. Or do whatever deities are said to do, and give out the spark of life. Over decades rather than six days of course, but who's counting?"

"You'll stop counting eventually," do Sul murmured.

"But…I dunno. I mean, I've heard so much," Jane continued. "Seen so much. I've been asked…" She fingered her backpack, wondering if she should mention Clarence and the "job" he'd given her. "I don't know anymore."

Do Sul snorted. "You will. You'll eventually make up your mind."

"And what conclusion did you reach?"

"That it's not worth giving a shit. We screwed up Earth. We call it fixed, but it's not. And we'll do the same on every other planet we touch. We're humans. Fucking up is all we can do."

"So why do you do it?" Jane asked.

"Because I don't care."

The shuttle lurched. "ETA to LZ is…seventy-five seconds," said the pilot.

"But hey, if you care, that's great," do Sul sneered. "You tell yourself you're building better worlds. You tell that to everyone who dies out here. You tell that to every lifeform that doesn't get to climb the evolutionary ladder. Tell yourself that as long as you want to."

Jane remained silent. Part of her…the old her…wanted to point out that the evolutionary ladder was a fallacy, that evolution actually worked more like a tree. But the old her was as silent as the new her. The new her who kept her eyes on the exit hatch, and wondered, not for the first time, why she was here. What she was doing. And what she'd gotten herself into.

"ETA in forty-five seconds."

_Guess I'll find out._

At ETA thirty seconds, the ship lurched again. At ETA fifteen seconds, Jane could hear the thrusters working overtime, making the final reduction in velocity. At ETA minus five seconds, the ramp started opening. And as the zero was reached, do Sul barked "everyone out." And everyone obeyed, marching towards the swirling dust before them.

"Welcome to hell boys and girls," do Sul's voice crackled in Jane's radio. "Give the devil my regards will you?"

Jane kept walking. She walked out, and didn't stop walking, instead heading straight for her assigned sector.

Maybe this _was_ Hell, she reflected.

If so, as the shuttle doors closed, the gates to Heaven were locked up tight.

* * *

It was said that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Jane didn't know. She was too tired to feel scorned, and if OBL-11 was indeed Hell, it was lacking fury of its own.

Her HUD registered the temperature at 93 degrees Celsius. Over the last few hours, it had never gone higher than 96, or lower than 90. She felt tired and sweaty, but it was more from the physical ordeal of walking from one site to another for hours on end than the temperature itself, which her suit protected her from. Even the wind wasn't too bad. The temperature of the planet was quite uniform, so while the wind still blew, it would never approach the level of the type of storms found on worlds with large temperature variations such as Earth or Atlas. Not unless the planet was terraformed. Which, after carrying out inspections of four sites, seemed quite likely. No signs of life, or even organic matter. Nothing but dust, dirt, and a human whose suit was covered in both.

And yet Jane kept walking. Her mouth dry, her forehead covered in sweat, her HUD flickering signals that gave her information she was past caring about, she kept walking. Following the topographic map displayed on her visor – the only piece of information that really mattered anymore. To the fifth site she had to inspect. She sighed, her breath briefly misting up on her visor.

_Great._

Site 5 was coming up, looking just like sites 1 to 4. A pool of bubbling water, fed by an aquifer located below the surface. It bubbled not because of internal heat, but because of the temperature around it. The type of place where life could conceivably emerge from, and ergo, the terraformers were required to check. As in, perform a quick chemical analysis and bio-scan, then move on. It was basic, not very thorough work, but after the last few hours, Jane couldn't care.

So she walked over to one of the rocks surrounding the pool. She sat down on it and got out the gear from her suit's pack. She glanced at the top-right corner of her HUD as it flashed a red light.

_Crap._

She stood up and put her gear on the rock behind her. Check-in time. do Sul's way of ensuring she didn't have to use the shuttle for anything else bar command and control. The light turned green.

"Anne, Jane."

The light turned red again. The terraformer turned around, back to the rock and the gear. She lifted it up, ready to-

_Wait a minute._

A cross. There was a cross on the boulder.

_Clarence…_

How hadn't she seen it, she wondered? When she was walking over to the pool. Maybe she'd been too tired to care, she wondered. Maybe it had been too obscure. Then again, this boulder could have moved somehow since the mark was made. And as she ran a finger through the indentation, she knew that there was no way nature could have caused this. Nature wasn't so precise.

_So…what now?_

The terraformer postponed the question as she walked over to the pool, set up the kit, and stuck out the tube-like samplers into the water. She _could _call Clarence. But part of her didn't want to. She just wanted to get the job done, get up to the ship, play some cards, have a shower, then wake up tomorrow morning knowing that she'd have to go through the same routine over the next month, then likely help with atmospheric processor maintenance over the next five. She-

_Your trial by fire, Jane. You want a future in Worldbuilders Inc.? You want Cairo to keep you on, even as more qualified people vie for positions? Then get down there and contact me when you find it._

…heard Clarence's words in her mind.

Why this pool had warranted the mark, she didn't know. As she got out the kit Clarence gave her with one hand, while adjusting her radio frequency with the other, she wondered about the possibilities. Buried treasure? An alien artefact? Nothing at all? Maybe this was just a way of hazing her, of ensuring she was dedicated to the job. Either way, she sent out the signal.

"Jane?"

"Hey Clarence, it's me," the terraformer said, sitting back down on the boulder. "Found the cross. I'm no Jim Hawkins, but-"

The kit flipped open. Inside were a trio of vials, each with the letters "EtO" on one side, and text on the other side that said EtO was highly concentrated, lethal, and adapted to be applied to a liquid solution.

"Ethylene oxide?" Jane asked. "What-"

"Pour it into the pool Jane," Clarence said hurriedly. "Do it."

"Huh? Do what? Clarence, you-"

"Do it Jane!"

"Clarence, these are sterilization chemicals," she exclaimed. "What? You trying to dispose of them or something?"

"Just pour them in the pool and get moving Jane. That's an order."

"Clarence, I…"

Jane trailed off. A green light on the bio-scanner was flashing.

"Hold on a minute."

She closed the kit Clarence had given her and walked over.

"Jane, what is it?" Clarence asked, his voice high pitched.

"Hang on a sec."

"Jane!"

She knelt down. The green light was flashing on the kit's display. Below it was a chemical reading

"ATP," Jane murmured, reading it out aloud.

"What?" Clarence exclaimed.

"Adenosine triphosphate," the terraformer said. "It's a chemical. Released by archean bacteria through chemiosmosis. It…oh my God…"

"Jane!"

Two words had appeared below the chemical reading. Two simple words. One noun, one verb. Yet staring at them, unable to believe it, Jane realized that the ramifications were as non-simple as could be.

**LIFE CONFIRMED**

"Jane, what's happening?!" Clarence shouted. "Talk to me!"

Jane stepped back. She barely heard him.

**LIFE CONFIRMED**

"Jane!"

"Clarence, I…" Jane collapsed down on the ground, her rump hitting a protruding shard of rock. She barely felt it. "Life, Clarence. There's…there's life here." She giggled. "Clarence, I've found life!"

It all felt worth it, she exclaimed. Life. Out here, so far from home. She'd found life. In this bubbling pool of water, no different from any other…there was _life_. So small. So insignificant compared to her. Yet here, on an alien world, confronted by confirmation that Earth was not the only world who could give rise to biological matter…she felt dwarfed by it…

"Life, Clarence…life…"

"Pour the chemicals in."

And suddenly, all the feeling of wonder was gone.

"Pour the chemicals in Jane," Clarence said, his voice as hard as stone. "Do the job."

"Clarence, what…what are you-"

"Pour the chemicals in Jane. Sterilize the site. Then walk away."

"Clarence…the hell?! Why are you-"

"Complete the mission Jane. Do it. Sterilize it."

"Clarence-"

"_Now_."

In that moment, Jane felt small again.

But for all the wrong reasons.

* * *

_A/N_

_I'd actually originally envisioned Jane and Victoria driving in a single land vehicle together, and writing the the first section from Victoria's POV. Still, scrapped both - the dropship made far more sense in the context of letting each terraformer go it alone, and two writing courses plus two years of writer's group meetings has changed my POV on...well, POVs. It's counter-productive to introduce a new POV so late in the story when the character isn't going to get another beyond that._


	8. Decisions, Decisions

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Chapter 7: Decisions, Decisions**

"What?"

The wind was howling. Clarence was saying something. But Jane barely heard either.

"What?!"

And Clarence said something else. She did hear. But she didn't comprehend.

"**What?!"**

And she stood there. A kit with sterilization agents below her. A kit further ahead, its sensors feeding into the pool. She stood there as Clarence's words were repeated.

"Do it."

And Jane still stood there. At least until she sat down on the boulder that the X had marked. In a way, it looked like a cross from the angle of her viewpoint. She certainly felt crucified at least.

"Jane, are you-"

"No."

And she spoke.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Clarence snapped.

"I said no."

"Jane, what the hell-"

"No, Clarence!" she yelled. "I said no! I'm not doing anything until you explain to me what's going on!"

The wind kept howling. Dust swirled around. Before her, the pool kept bubbling. And within it, alien bacteria replicated. How long would it be until a mutation developed, Jane wondered? How long before they started altering the atmosphere of this world? Would such an evolutionary path occur? Or would the bacteria remain as they were now?

_Or will I…_sterilize_, them?_

The radio crackled. Clarence seemed to have an answer.

"What's there to explain Jane?" he asked cordially. "There's life. Your job is to remove it and let OBL-eleven be terraformed for human use."

"That's…that's against the rules…"

Clarence snorted. "Rules come and go, Jane. Six centuries ago, in some countries, it was legal to own another human being. In some countries five centuries ago, rape wasn't considered a crime. Four centuries ago, there were still some parts of the world that outlawed stem cell research, even when it could save countless lives. Were any of those rules right, Jane?

"I…I don't…"

"Rules change. Rules are often stupid in hindsight. Giving up human expansion for bacteria is another stupid rule. People like you and me, we get to break the rules so others can sleep well at night."

"I'm not like you," Jane whispered.

"Oh please. You do exactly what I do. You sail across the stars, start transforming a world for human use, you do all the dirty work. Only difference is you let it bother you. And besides, didn't you defend the practice back on Earth? Or did that girl _really _get through to you?"

Jane remained seated there. She felt alone. Isolated. Clarence was on one radio frequency, do Sul another. Two people in the same business as her. Two people who just didn't care anymore.

"Why me?" Jane whispered. "Why did I have to do it? Why mark an X at the spot where life was instead of doing the job yourself?"

"Get back to the ship and I'll tell you."

"Now, Clarence!" Jane snapped. "If you don't tell me everything now I'm reporting you in."

Clarence scoffed. "Right. Of course."

"Don't laugh Clarence! If people knew what you were doing they'd-"

"What people?"

Jane stopped short.

"What people?" Clarence asked again.

Jane kept silent. She could name dozens of them. Captain Columbia for one. Cairo…or maybe not, since he'd given her "the job" in the first place. Jean would find it juicy…and there was the Terraforming Oversight Committee back on Earth…

"Jane, I think it's time you learnt how things work," Clarence said. "Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet."

The terraformer bit her lip. Her fingers gripped the boulder even harder.

"No-one cares about the ethics of terraforming," Clarence said. "Enough people care to make a fuss on it like you saw back on Earth, and admittedly, enough to prompt the government to give the façade of giving a damn. So every so often, life is discovered, and we stop short. We let it play around in biological muck in the hope it'll grow a brain, a mouth, and the ability to say more than spunkgargleweewee."

"That's not a word."

"But most of the time, it's business as usual. So that's where we come in. To do the business."

"You've done this before?" Jane exclaimed.

"Of course. We'd have sterilized the site long ago if we could. Remember Kingston? He was the last one who was here. He wandered off his route and encountered this spring. He found the life, but had no means to remove it, and had no means of staying on-site due to safety concerns. So he told no-one but us. We had to get someone in to finish the job. Someone who could do a simple task and would then become irrelevant. A month from now, this world will be en route to be a new colony. So we chose you. A stooge to perform the task. And a patsy if anything went wrong."

"But…you told me…told me that…"

"To do a job? Yes, we did. You had foreknowledge, and no-one cares about claims of ignorance. But let's say you do tell someone Jane. Let's say we're both incarcerated. A trial will begin, go on, be forgotten. The government approves of what we do. They just can't show it."

Jane's ears were ringing. It sounded so unbelievable. And yet, in a way, it made sense. She'd mentioned to Clarence in the space elevator about all the mistakes that had been made. Mistakes that kept being made. She began to wonder if they weren't mistakes at all. That every saved species was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb.

"So go on and do it," Clarence said. "Get it over with. That job offer? It's still open you know. You're naïve, but you're not stupid Jane. I'll give you that much."

Jane got up. She slowly walked over to the vials, each of them bearing the EtO logo. Looking at the backs of them, she saw that the ethylene oxide was highly concentrated. Definitely enough to sterilize the pool.

"You could have just ignored it," Jane murmured. "Just never reported it."

"True. But we learnt it was added to the planetary database and marked for the next survey. Had to ensure you were the one to do it. Had to buff up your credentials with Columbia, but, well, I guess you figured that out by now."

Jane's gaze lowered. There was dirt all around her, but she was the one who felt dirty.

_I don't belong here. I'm some Earth girl, I'm on an alien planet, and microbes have more right to be on this world than I do._

She walked over to the pool, the vials in hand. She stared down at the pool. It was bubbling and fuming so much that there was no chance of seeing her reflection.

_And what would it be? A visor? Or some scared little girl?_

She knelt down. She reached for one of the vials. She began to unscrew, ready to unleash death upon…

"No."

She sat down by the pool. She put the vials to one side.

"Jane?" Clarence asked.

She remained silent.

"Jane?"

"I can't do this," she whispered. "I won't."

Silence filled the radio bar the occasional crackle. The wind had died down by now, and she could barely hear the pool. The suit insulated her from sound as much as anything else. Like a shield. Separating her from truth and lies.

"Why?" Clarence asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Why?" the man repeated. "Why, Jane? Why is it wrong to sterilize the site?"

"It…well…"

Jane trailed off. The question…it was like asking why it was wrong to kill someone, or to kick a dog. It was so simple. And yet, as she opened her mouth and closed it, she found herself unable to answer.

"This planet can potentially support billions of human beings," Clarence said. "And the only price that has to be paid are some bugs that don't even know what a human is, let alone what it actually means to be alive. So, tell me, why is it deemed the ethical choice to put bugs first?"

"It's not always just bugs," Jane whispered. "Sometimes it's more."

"Well if we're getting something more complex, we can always store it somewhere, put it in a micro-habitat. But you're still talking about dumb animals."

"Dumb animals?" Jane exclaimed. "Dumb _animals_?"

"Calm down Jane."

"No Clarence, I won't. Don't you…don't you dare go down that route! Don't define animals by our own standards of intelligence! We have no right to! Not on Earth, not here!"

"And how was your hamburger?"

"What?"

"Mess hall, two nights ago. Hamburger with fries. How intelligent was the cow?"

"I…you can't…"

"Can't what? Life's harsh. We eat animals. It's our prerogative. How different is altering their ecosystems for our usage? We can play the moral game and preserve them if we want to, but that's our choice as well. We're under no obligation to do anything."

Jane got up. She started pacing around. She looked for something…anything…anything she could utter to make the problem go away.

"What about intelligent life?" she murmured. "Using our own standards."

Clarence sighed. "Jane, they're bugs."

"Life started on Earth the same way."

"Your point?"

"That…that is the point…"

"Well, it's a lousy one, because you're trading a certainty for a possibility. If OBL is terraformed, it's a certainty that humans will settle here. Millions, maybe billions of years from now, it's a _possibility _that these bugs will have given rise to developed lifeforms. So your argument fails again."

Jane stopped pacing around.

"And besides, didn't you want to say you wanted to spread life throughout the galaxy? Isn't that why you're here? Or were you lying in the interview?"

"You're the one who lied to me Clarence."

"How?" he sneered. "I've always made my views clear. You, on the other hand, have fluctuated between them every other day. So where do you stand Jane? With your own species? Or bugs?"

Jane looked down. The pool looked back up at her. She raised the vial, obscuring some of her vision of the bubbling water.

There was no single reason that she could give to invalidate Clarence's claims, she realized. Humans spread. Humans colonized. They'd done it since they'd walked out of Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago. Space was just the next step. Only there was far less life to clear away. Sometimes none. It was simply the requirements of survival.

_And yet…_

But when would it end, she wondered. How many worlds were needed? Would there ever be enough. And if Clarence was putting humans first, then did that include her humanity? There was still something wrong. Whether it be on the psychological level, the spiritual level, or some level she wasn't aware of, she felt…dirty, by even considering this. That had to say something. Her ability to choose. To develop a system of morality that not only safeguarded her own species, but others as well. Because at the end of the day, morality was maybe all she had.

_So what's moral then? The needs of the many, or the needs of the few? The certainty, or the possibility? _

Long she stood there. The power of death in one hand, yet a death that would allow the flourishing of life. She felt like a goddess. A singular goddess. Unknown, unloved. She could smite her subjects or let them live, and they didn't even have the capacity for it. But maybe one day they would. Maybe they wouldn't. Maybe sometimes, gods and goddesses needed their own faith. Or maybe go by rationality and do the 'smart' thing, which would to be to go with the certainty. A step of certainty, to pour the vial in? Or a leap of faith, to not do so and move on to site 6?

Long she stood there. Long she pondered.

Eventually, a decision was made.

She hoped she could live with it.


	9. Epilogue: Endings

**Section 8: The Spark of Life**

**Epilogue: Endings**

"All passengers for Flight B-nine-six-two to Bellerephon, this is your final boarding call. Please report to gate eight for check-in."

"That's me," the woman says, glancing at her chrono. She gets up. "Nice meeting you."

It takes me a moment to comprehend a few facts. We've been sitting here for forty minutes, not thirty. I've been so wrapped up in the story that I didn't hear any of the previous boarding calls. The story itself isn't finished yet. And if this woman goes through gate eight, I'll never hear the end of it.

"Wait!" I exclaim, walking after her. "What happened? What did the girl do?"

"Oh, don't worry," the woman murmurs, reaching a hand into her pocket and pulling out a data chip that I assume has her passport and boarding ticket stored on it. "She made her choice."

"Yeah, but what choice?! What did she do?"

She ignores me, and keeps walking. I walk after her, even though this isn't my flight. Throughout this story, not a single name was uttered by the storyteller. Is she trying to protect those involved? If so…what then?

"The planet!" I exclaim, grabbing her by the shoulder. "What happened? Was it terraformed?"

"Look it up," she says, taking my hand off her shoulder. "OBL-eleven. All planets retain their alpha-numeric designation even if they _are _officially named."

_Christ!_

It'll take me ages to look it up. It's not impossible, but when I could just have the answer…

"Why don't you just tell me?" I ask, seeing the check-in attendants make another final boarding call announcement (apparently the last "final" one wasn't final at all). "Why don't you-"

"Excuse me sir, are you on this flight?"

One of the attendants, male, has walked up to me.

"I, um…"

I glanced helplessly at the woman. She's handed her data chip to the other female attendant who's currently in the midst of scanning the data.

"Sir, if you don't have a boarding pass-"

"Don't worry, he's just seeing me off."

The woman turns back at me. The attendant looks at her for a moment before shrugging and heading back to his own desk.

"Look," I say desperately. "I believe you. I really do. I…you're right, you know. All the planets we transformed. Maybe we take them for granted. If you want to pass on elder wisdom and all that, then you've done the job. If you want me to try and get an inquiry into these practices, I will. Just tell me! What happened?!"

"You're asking the wrong question."

I stare at her. The attendants ignore us. And the woman begins chuckling.

"A choice was made," she whispers, looking down at the ground and rubbing her hands together. "But that isn't what you should concern yourself with."

"I-"

"What was the _right _choice to make?" she asks, her eyes meeting mine, their depth and age shining out into the world. "What choice would _you _have made?"

I remain silent. I…never considered that. I was expecting an answer, an end to the story. Not this kind of 'to be continued maybe' thing.

"Asking what's the right thing to do," the woman says, laying a hand on my shoulder gently. "That's a question we must never stop asking."

A beeping sound comes from the desk behind my acquaintance. Sighing, as if tired, as if weighed down by history, she turns around to take her chip.

"It all checks out," the attendant says. "Welcome aboard Miss Anne."

I stand there. I watch as she walks towards the boarding tube. As she glances round and waves idly. I wave back.

And then she's gone. And she's taken her answers with her. And all I'm left with is the question.

I glance at my chrono. Twenty minutes until boarding time for my own flight. I find myself walking through the boarding lounge. Back to the plasteel wall. Back to the view of Atlas below. Back to where it all began.

I reflect on everything I heard. All the mistakes that were made. All the morals compromised. A question that I don't even know _has _a moral answer.

I look down at the planet below.

Atlas is still a marvel of the natural world. Of a planet spawning its own life without human intervention.

Atlas is still beautiful.

But I don't think I ever appreciated how much until now.

**The End**

* * *

_A/N_

_So, that's that._

_My initial conception for this story was for it to encompass chapters 1 to 7 (as in, not including the epilogue and prologue), and to leave the ending ambiguous. Getting into writing this however, I realized that ch. 7 ended...iffily, as in, feeling more like a cop-out rather than conveying my intent on leaving the choice open to the reader. Hence, the prologue/epilogue additions. Yeah, it's still the ambiguous ending that can potentially send people into homicidal rages in published fiction, but hey, fanfic. _

_So, that being said, I don't have any other_ Section 8 _stories_ _on my 'to write' list at this time of writing. Currently working on a _Halo _story titled _Primordial _for what it's worth. I suppose that since Timegate Studios has gone the way of the dodo, fan works are all we're going to have left. :(_


End file.
